The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self & Soul

Amazon.com Review:
Ever wondered who you are? Who you really are? This collection of writings and reflections by some of today's most notable thinkers is designed to enliven this most central, and most baffling, question in the philosophy of mind. In some ways, the questions posed and bantered about in this book are at the heart of all philosophical reasoning. They are the ultimate questions about the self. The Mind's I contains an astonishing variety of approaches to answering the question, "Who am I?" Between the covers of this book one encounters the literary erudition of Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges alongside the analytic rigor of John Searle. There are sophisticated metaphorical pieces (such as "The Princess Ineffabelle" by Polish philosopher and writer Stanislaw Lem), intriguing dialogues (like Raymond Smullyan's "Is God a Taoist?"), and serious but engaging philosophical essays from a host of thinkers (see Thomas Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?").

Editors Hofstadter and Dennett--leading lights in the study of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and the philosophy of mind--follow each selection with a short reflection designed to elaborate on their main themes. The Mind's I admirably broadens their fields to a more general audience. The book's essays are grouped into six categories, each successively raising the philosophical stakes by introducing new levels of complexity. Ultimately, one confronts some of the thorniest questions in modern philosophy here, such as the nature of free will, our place in the metaphysical world, and the possibility of genuine artificial intelligence. The book closes with a playful and perplexing piece by Robert Nozick, an adequate summation to The Mind's I. He writes, "Perhaps God has not decided yet whether he has created, in this world, a fictional world or a real one.... Which decision do you hope for?" --Eric de Place

Product Description:
From some of the 20th century's greatest thinkers, essays on topics as diverse as artificial intelligence, evolution, science fiction, philosophy, reductionism, and consciousnessWith contributions from Jorge Luis Borges, Richard Dawkins, John Searle, and Robert Nozick, The Mind's I explores the meaning of self and consciousness through the perspectives of literature, artificial intelligence, psychology, and other disciplines. In selections that range from fiction to scientific speculations about thinking machines, artificial intelligence, and the nature of the brain, Hofstadter and Dennett present a variety of conflicting visions of the self and the soul as explored through the writings of some of the twentieth century's most renowned thinkers.

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Customer Reviews

Rating: - Hofstadter's Accustomed Brilliance
Hofstadter delivers a vastly enjoyable account accessible to any intelligent non-specialist, but on this occasion requiring far less persistence than Gödel, Escher, Bach. The ground he covers encompasses some of the most traditionally intractable problems in philosophy, yet his accounts of the various thought experiments and the issues they do and do not illuminate never appear impenetrable. The book is organised into a collection of vignettes that can easily be bitten off and chewed over independently. ... Read More
Rating: - Old but not outdated
This book is a great collection of stories and essays that makes you think, ask, and wonder. Although i think Dennett is a materialist, this book has many stories challenging it and thereby showing some major problems with consciousness(for example, the identity problem - if someone's body is copied atom for atom and the original destroyed, has anything really been changed?).
It's fun to read, because of the format you'll get through it a lot easier than Consciousness Explained but it still contains ... Read More
Rating: - I am he as you are me
THE MIND'S I is not the seamless tour de force Hofstadter laid out inGODEL, ESCHER, BACH (Vintage Books, 1979), but comprises another delightful exploration of consciousness and in a much more accessible way. Who or what is it that knows what you know you know? You know? You, no? Whaddya no? Etc.
Rating: - Mine's Aye
Look if you're here, then you want this book.

You can't have landed on this page by accident.There is no search that does not include Dennet or Hofstadter or Dawkins or cognitive psychology or philosophy of the mind that brings you hear. So, yes, you want to buy this book.

Two of the most important advents in cognitive and evolutionary psychology take shape rather easily in these pages.The first is Dr Hofstadter PRELUDE... ANT FUGUE; the second is Richard Dawkins extention of ... Read More
Rating: - The Mind's I opener
This book by D&D is a wonderful, elegant, and fun way to introduce philosophical ideas about the mind. Especially in regards to people that have no familiarity, and even no interest! Because of the strong Hofstadter feel to this book (I don't think Dennett put much into this) anyone can pick it up and begin opening their "Mind's I" to the exhilaratingly beautiful philosophy of mind. So, if you for some reason you aren't interested in philosophy (IMPOSSIBLE!), but still enjoy thought-provoking fiction, Lewis ... Read More